


I'll Teach You

by julie4697



Category: Free!
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-05
Updated: 2016-08-05
Packaged: 2018-07-29 10:15:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,333
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7680478
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/julie4697/pseuds/julie4697
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>You'd think Rei, being a theory buff, would be better at holding his lessons to heart. But Gou knows a hands-on lesson is best when it comes to matters of love.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I'll Teach You

**Author's Note:**

> Written thanks to a prompt from a friend: "Rei and Gou on an ice cream date and Rei insists on paying and is trying to figure out the exact amount they need and Gou's just like "nope" and pays with a ¥1000 bill because hubby's taking too long." This was super-fun to write!

“ _One_ scoop of pistachio ice cream, with _one_ scoop of cherry, and  _one_ scoop of chocolate with whipped cream and sprinkles, so that would amount to-“

“Rei-kun, the flavors are all the same price.”

An amused expression played across Gou’s face as she watched Rei fumble wildly in his wallet. He pushed his glasses up frantically, failing to look her in the eye.

“S-silence! I’m trying to calculate! We must make this _exact_ , you see, Gou-san, because I cannot have _anyone_ fall into debt, or wallow in guilt at not being able to pay!”

Gou sighed. People were starting to stare. Maybe a paid outing wasn’t the best choice when it came to Rei; a theory maniac like him would obviously stress over the little details, and while it was kind of cute, it could be downright embarrassing when he was doing it in public places. Like now.

Hadn’t she taught him _anything_?

It was a few weeks ago when Gou started to suspect something was up with Rei—he seemed dazed during class, started ducking out from practice for a few minutes at a time when he thought no one was watching, and didn’t seem to be paying as much attention to his surroundings as usual. That was when Coach Sasabe suggested, with his booming laugh, that Rei-kun was in love, of course! Why else would a teenage boy of his integrity look so distracted? And unless there was something he was hiding from them, Gou herself couldn’t find any other reason, rack her brains as she might.

At first it began as a candid concern on the part of a manager. Rei-kun wasn’t practicing effectively enough, so it was her duty as team manager to get him back on track. However, thinking back, she couldn’t admit even to herself that there _wasn’t_ a grain of personal interest when she offered to give him lessons on love.

"Rei-kun, if something’s on your mind, please tell me!” She had bombarded him with books on love and dating, thinking that he would probably learn best through theory, and despite his protests that he would “never be concerned with something as trivial as love”, somehow Gou was not convinced. She had had plenty of reason to think so, too: he was nervous, he was fidgety, he didn’t look her in the eyes, and, most importantly, he kept pushing up his glasses, which was a sure sign that he was probably lying. 

It was time for a hands-on session.

If Rei-kun was _ever_ going to get a girlfriend, he was going to have to remember a few things…well, more than just a few. For starters, he would have to be more sensitive to the efforts a girl took to look her best. And for a guy who was always prattling on about how “beautiful” things were, he was surprisingly bad at recognizing feminine charms. 

For their first “date” ( _lesson_ , Gou reminded herself), she had therefore taken extra time to perfect her makeup, put on her best dress, and even try on her little blue high heeled sandals that she had never touched since she had worn them to meet her Onii-chan at the airport. Looking at herself in the mirror and twirling her white sundress a few times, she wondered vaguely if she had taken _too_ much effort into looking nice—more than was necessary for a guy who wasn’t even her boyfriend. 

_Yet._

She had quickly shaken the thought out of her head. This was entirely for Rei-kun’s own good. Right?

But she couldn’t help but feel a thrill in her stomach when she saw him waiting for her at their meeting place, dressed in flattering clothes that subtly flaunted his muscles. It seemed he had also taken care to look his best…or was he just effortlessly good-looking like that? 

“Rei-kun!” She had waved to get his attention, and the boy had raised his head. Immediately a look of stunned wonder settled on his face.

“Ah, Gou-san, you look…” His eyes scanned her top to bottom. “…beautiful today.”

She had smiled, blushed a little. “Lesson One,” she said. “If a girl takes efforts to look nice, appreciate it.” She looked up at him and met his eyes. “But I guess you didn’t need that one.” Indeed, his compliment had felt much more sincere than anything he could have learned from a book on picking up girls. Unused to her steady gaze, Rei had blushed and cleared his throat, his hands working steadily in pushing his glasses up (and hiding his face, she conjectured). 

Under the unrelenting light of the mid-September sun, they had both resorted to staying under the shade of a large tree (sequoia, he told her), where they fell into easy conversation. Soon they were laughing together about Nagisa’s latest goofy antics, Makoto-senpai’s flawless muscles, and Haruka-senpai’s wonderful swimming strokes.

Before she knew it, she had inched closer to Rei on the bench, and was practically leaning on his shoulder, when he abruptly turned his head and their eyes met. She was dangerously close—her nose was almost touching his, and she felt with sudden dizziness just how deep his purple eyes were.

Both of them had jumped back with a start, faces burning. She managed to stammer out, “L-lesson Two! Let her know when she’s invading your personal space, okay?!” 

“D-duly noted!” Even without looking at him, she knew he was as red as she was. To mar the embarrassment, she had hurriedly suggested getting some ice cream from a nearby cafe. 

And here they were.

“…With the added toppings, the total comes to…” He lit up. “515 yen! Alright, Gou-san, so if we pay 257.5 yen each, it’ll be per-” He was interrupted as his phone rang stridently. “Ah, excuse me! It’ll be just a second…” He backed off to the side to answer, as the line behind them grew steadily. Gou heaved an exasperated sigh, and, opening her own wallet, slapped a 1000 yen bill on the counter.

The cashier stared.

"I’m sorry it took so long,” Gou muttered. “He can get a bit…weird.”

When Rei came back, the payment was already concluded.

“But…but…” His stutters were cut off by Gou’s piercing red glare. 

“Lesson Three.” She swiped the rest of the change into her wallet. “Don’t overthink things. Leave things to her when necessary. This was in your books, too, you know.” The wallet closed with a snap. “Understood?”

He gulped. “Y-yes.”

——

“What was the call about, if I may ask?” They were walking home in the setting sun’s light. “I mean, you keep leaving practice to answer phone calls. Is something happening?”

There was a pause, during which Rei took a deep breath. “Oh…that.” He exhaled, then said all at once, “I may or may not have revealed to Nagisa-kun my sincere intentions to date you, who most unfortunately revealed to your brother, who did not…react very favorably, to say the least.” He looked away. “He’s been bombarding me with calls recently, threatening to drown me or maul me if I end up in ‘funny business’ with you…” He sheepishly drew his gaze back towards her. “Of course, I should have asked you first…”

He was surprised by a gentle touch on his arm. Gou was looking up at him with a small smile. “Lesson three still stands,” she murmured. “Don’t overthink it. Leave it to me…he’s my brother after all.” In a spontaneous movement, she stood on her tiptoes and placed a kiss on his cheek. “Class is over. When will we schedule the next one?”

Rei stared wide-eyed at her, then, finally realizing the situation, felt his face grow hot. “U-um! Perhaps next weekend would do? I would be delighted to meet you, really, anytime-!” 

So Coach Sasabe had been right, after all. Gou lowered her gaze, grateful that the sunset was red enough to hide her own blush. He certainly passed the first lesson, with an A+. 


End file.
